As a fast-moving startup, our technology choices directly impact our velocity, scalability, and competitive advantage. This Software Supply Chain Radar provides strategic guidance on technologies we're adopting, exploring, or avoiding across our stack. Our selections prioritize developer productivity, operational efficiency, and sustainable growth—enabling us to deliver exceptional products with minimal overhead.
Core Categories:
- 🛠️ Engineering: Our technical foundation and infrastructure
- 🎨 Design: Tools that shape our user experience and brand identity
- 📊 Product: Solutions that power our core business capabilities
- 📣 Marketing & Operations: Systems that drive growth and operational excellence
Decision Framework:
- ✅ Adopt: Battle-tested technologies we're investing in and building expertise around
- 🧪 Trial: Promising technologies we're validating in non-critical applications
- 🔍 Assess: Emerging technologies we're researching for potential future adoption
- ⛔️ Hold: Technologies we're actively avoiding or phasing out
| Technology | Strategic Value | Status |
|---|
| TypeScript | Foundation for scalable frontends with strong type safety | ✅ Adopt |
| Golang | Powers our high-performance backend services and APIs | ✅ Adopt |
| Next.js & React | Our primary React framework for production applications | ✅ Adopt |
| Apollo GraphQL | Unified data graph for frontend-backend communication | ✅ Adopt |
| TRPC | Type-safe API layer for internal services | 🔍 Assess |
| Technology | Strategic Value | Status |
|---|
| Expo/React Native | Cross-platform mobile app development | ✅ Adopt |
| Fastlane | Mobile app deployment and release automation | 🧪 Trial |
| Technology | Strategic Value | Status |
|---|
| VSCode | Code editor | ✅ Adopt |
| Windsurf or Cursor | AI-powered code assistant | ✅ Adopt |
| IntelliJ Family IDEs | IDE | ✅ Adopt |
| Technology | Strategic Value | Status |
|---|
| Google Cloud | Primary cloud provider for production workloads | ✅ Adopt |
| Docker | Container standard for consistent development and deployment | ✅ Adopt |
| Render.com | Simplified cloud hosting for non-critical services | ✅ Adopt |
| betterstack | Unified monitoring and observability | ✅ Adopt |
| Wasabi | Cost-effective object storage for media and backups | ✅ Adopt |
| ngrok | Secure tunneling for local development | ✅ Adopt |
| mitmproxy | API debugging and inspection | ✅ Adopt |
| Contabo | Cost-effective VPS hosting for non-critical workloads | 🧪 Trial |
| Vmiss | Alternative cloud provider for geographic distribution | 🧪 Trial |
| GitHub Repo & Actions | Source control and CI/CD automation for streamlined workflows | ✅ Adopt |
| Prometheus Grafana | Monitoring and observability | ✅ Adopt |
| Temporal | Workflow orchestration for data pipelines | 🧪 Trial |
| signoz | Monitoring and observability | 🔍 Assess |
| Technology | Strategic Value | Status |
|---|
| PostgreSQL | Primary relational database for transactional data | ✅ Adopt |
| Redis | In-memory data store for caching and real-time features | ✅ Adopt |
| Metabase | Data analysis and visualization | ✅ Adopt |
| Prisma | ORM | 🧪 Trial |
| TypeORM | ORM | 🧪 Trial |
| Technology | Strategic Value | Status |
|---|
| OpenAI Agents Python | AI agent development for supply chain automation workflows | 🔍 Assess |
| OpenAI and Claude APIs | AI-powered content generation and analysis | ✅ Adopt |
| Technology | Rationale | Status |
|---|
| CSS-in-JS | Performance concerns and unnecessary complexity | ⛔️ Hold |
| MongoDB | Prefer PostgreSQL's JSONB for document needs | ⛔️ Hold |
| Heroku | Cost concerns at scale and limited customization | ⛔️ Hold |
| DigitalOcean | Standardizing on GCP for better integration | ⛔️ Hold |
| Azure | Unnecessary complexity for our current needs | ⛔️ Hold |
| UptimeRobot | Limited capabilities compared to betterstack | ⛔️ Hold |
| Netlify | Prefer Render for better pricing and features | ⛔️ Hold |
| Vercel | Cost concerns at scale | ⛔️ Hold |
| Datadog | Cost prohibitive for our current stage | ⛔️ Hold |
| CharlesProxy | Prefer mitmproxy (open source alternative) | ⛔️ Hold |
| Airflow | Workflow orchestration for data pipelines | ⛔️ Hold |
| Technology | Strategic Value | Status |
|---|
| Claude as UI/UX Designer | AI-assisted design ideation and feedback | ✅ Adopt |
| ChatGPT for Illustrations | Rapid generation of custom visual assets | ✅ Adopt |
| Landbook | Curated inspiration for landing page design | 🔍 Assess |
| Jitter | animation | 🔍 Assess |
| Technology | Strategic Value | Status |
|---|
| Figma | Central hub for collaborative design and prototyping | ✅ Adopt |
| Whimsical | Low-friction diagramming for architecture and workflows | ✅ Adopt |
| shadcn/tailwind | Utility-first CSS framework for consistent, maintainable UI | ✅ Adopt |
| cruip.com templates | Accelerating landing page development with quality templates | ✅ Adopt |
| Technology | Rationale | Status |
|---|
| Ant Design | Inconsistent with our design language | ⛔️ Hold |
| Generic Stock Images | Prefer custom illustrations for brand differentiation | ⛔️ Hold |
| Technology | Strategic Value | Status |
|---|
| GitHub Projects | Integrated task management aligned with our development workflow | ✅ Adopt |
| Technology | Strategic Value | Status |
|---|
| Stripe | Scalable, developer-friendly payments infrastructure | ✅ Adopt |
| Beancount | Bookkeeping and financial reporting | ✅ Adopt |
| Intuit | Tax preparation and management | ✅ Adopt |
| Coinbase | USDC and Bitcoin as treasury & Crypto trading | ✅ Adopt |
| Mercury | Banking and payment processing | ✅ Adopt |
| American Express | Credit card | ✅ Adopt |
| Kraken | Crypto trading | 🧪 Trial |
| Crypto tax calculator | Tax preparation | ✅ Adopt |
| Technology | Strategic Value | Status |
|---|
| Claude & ChatGPT as PM | AI-assisted product planning, user stories, and market research | ✅ Adopt |
| In-house PM Agent | | 🧪 Trial |
| Technology | Strategic Value | Status |
|---|
| Semrush | Comprehensive SEO and content marketing platform | ✅ Adopt |
| Google Analytics | Core web analytics for data-driven decisions | ✅ Adopt |
| Google Search Console | Search performance monitoring and optimization | ✅ Adopt |
| Amplitude | Product analytics for deeper user behavior insights | 🧪 Trial |
| Moz.com | Supplementary SEO research and optimization | 🔍 Assess |
| Technology | Strategic Value | Status |
|---|
| Claude as Marketing Manager | AI-assisted content strategy, copywriting, and campaign planning | ✅ Adopt |
| ChatGPT Deep Research | In-depth market analysis and competitive intelligence gathering | ✅ Adopt |
| In-house Marketing Agent | | 🧪 Trial |
Content & Communication
| Technology | Strategic Value | Status |
|---|
| Docusaurus | Documentation and content management system | ✅ Adopt |
| Sendgrid | Transactional and marketing email infrastructure | ✅ Adopt |
| Buffer.com | Social media scheduling and analytics | ✅ Adopt |
| Substack | Newsletter platform for audience building and thought leadership | ✅ Adopt |
| Medium | Publishing platform for broader reach and industry visibility | 🧪 Trial |
| GitHub starred projects | Curated resource library for developer community engagement | ✅ Adopt |
| Zapier | Workflow automation across third-party applications | ✅ Adopt |
| Discord | Community building and real-time developer engagement | ✅ Adopt |
| Telegram | Direct communication channel for customers | ✅ Adopt |
| X / Twitter | Industry presence and thought leadership distribution | ✅ Adopt |
| Technology | Rationale | Status |
|---|
| Deepseek as Marketing Manager | Tendency to generate hallucinated/exaggerated content | ⛔️ Hold |
Our Software Supply Chain Radar is a living document that evolves with our business. Each quarter, we conduct a structured review process to:
- Evaluate Current Technologies: Assess performance, cost, and alignment with business goals
- Explore Emerging Options: Research innovations that could provide competitive advantages
- Refine Our Strategy: Make deliberate decisions about what to adopt, trial, or phase out
- Developer Experience First: We prioritize tools that maximize developer productivity and joy
- Operational Simplicity: We favor technologies that reduce maintenance burden and cognitive load
- Sustainable Choices: We select technologies that will scale with us and avoid technical debt
- Business Alignment: We invest in technologies that directly support our core value proposition
This radar represents our collective wisdom. We encourage all team members to contribute insights, suggest new technologies, and challenge our assumptions. Together, we'll build a technology foundation that powers our growth and innovation.